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Former Balch Springs Police Officer Roy Oliver says the sound of breaking glass prompted him to fire the shots that killed unarmed Texas teen Jordan Edwards, his lawyers claimed in new court documents.

Oliver’s partner, Tyler Gross, was yelling for the black Chevrolet Impala — driven by Jordan’s older brother — to stop as it left a house party on April 29.

Gross, with his weapon drawn, finally broke the window with his gun — which made Oliver believe he was in danger, according to a 22-page response filed Tuesday to a civil suit by Jordan’s family.

“Oliver hears violence/breaking glass at Gross’ location; and in fear for himself and others, Oliver fires his weapon into the car” with up to five shots from 10 to 15 feet away, the filing reads.

Jordan, riding in the passenger seat, was struck in the head and died of his wound.

Oliver also suggests there was a gun in the car, and one or more of the occupants were gang members who’d fired a weapon that day.

Lee Merritt, the lawyer for Jordan’s family, slammed Oliver’s suggestion that someone in the car — two of Jordan’s brothers and two friends — was part of a gang.

“That is the tried and true method for police officers getting off for committing murder without any real explanation,” Merritt said in a statement to local ABC affiliate WFAA. “Their facts have veered, and they are completely fabricated, and completely inconsistent with the investigation. This is the stuff of fairy tales.”

Jordan’s family filed the wrongful death lawsuit on May 5, a week after the incident. Oliver, later fired by the department, was indicted for murder in a criminal case last week.

Oliver and Gross were called to a Balch Springs home that fateful night for reports of underage drinking.

Body camera footage showed Gross and Oliver speaking with the son of the homeowner when gunshots are heard.

Law enforcement officials later told the Dallas Morning News in late June there was no alcohol or drugs at the party. An autopsy report also found none in Jordan’s system.

Oliver’s Tuesday filing claims that up to 10 shots were heard east of the house. While Gross ran out to see where they’d been fired, Oliver writes that he went to get his Modern Carbine patrol rifle.

Within 55 seconds of the gun shots being heard, Jordan would be dead, according to the fired officer’s response.

He saw Gross stop one car that was making a three-point turn, then went after for the Impala.

Jordan’s brother kept driving past the officers even after the rifle shots, according to the filing.

He later pulled over to call his father, Odell, while his friends called their mother.

Cops briefly took the occupants of the car into custody, during which time the teens said officers used the n-word.

Oliver claims neither he nor any other police officer used profane language during the encounter.

He initially told superior officers he shot at the Impala because it was moving at officers in an aggressive manner. When body camera footage suggested otherwise, Balch Springs Police recanted the statement and later fired Oliver.

Merritt, in his statement to WFAA, bashed the fired lawman’s suggestion that a gun was in the car.

“A gun in the car? Don’t you think we would have heard about this before,” Merritt said. “It’s been over 40 years in the state of Texas that an officer has been convicted because of an inherent acceptance of claims by law enforcement officers, even when they are unsubstantiated.”

About author

Filming Cops was started in 2010 as a conglomerative blogging service documenting police abuse. The aim isn’t to demonize the natural concept of security provision as such, but to highlight specific cases of State-monopolized police brutality that are otherwise ignored by traditional media outlets.